Bude, Cornwall

Approached to assist with a dredging operation in Bude on the north Cornish coast, a special pontoon design with heavy lifting capability was needed. The client had a very specific problem to overcome: the lifting and repositioning of 1 tonne concrete sinkers that were to be used for a 4 point mooring system in the dredge area.

Our designers came up with a double stacked layer pontoon design, with aluminium stiffening beams between layers, to reduce any flex and spread the load. As manoeuvrability was important a cutout section was built-in to incorporate a Rigiflex workboat to push the pontoon into position.

To lift the sinkers a 3 tonne aluminium lifting gantry was mounted to the deck over a moon pool in the pontoon. A steel winch cable ran from the gantry to a 9 tonne electric winch supported on a custom fabricated deck winch bracket. This was powered by an onboard battery powerpack.

The design was assembled in our yard, tried and tested, before being disassembled and made ready for dispatch. Complete with work boat, edge protection panels and safety equipment everything was loaded onto two trailers. Our team arrived on site in Cornwall where the pontoon was built and launched and instruction given to the operating crew.

If you have a unique problem over water involving access, lifting or both, get in touch to see how we can help you.